Exitus Felix, Interruptis
by Fic Fairy
Summary: Set 3 years after my fic 'Definitely Not The Jackal'. When Abbey & CJ's happy ending is threatened in the worst way imaginable their friends and family gather to support them, bringing key figures of the Bartlet Administration back together. C2 NOW UP!
1. Chapter 1

**I never intended to write a sequel to DNTJ because to me the story felt done and dusted and I couldn't see where else it could go. However, I was toying with the way that fic ended today when this idea occurred to me and I decided to see if I could make it work. Obviously the jury is still out on that so please let me know what you think… **

**xxx**

**Exitus felix****,****interruptis**

**The Sequel to Definitely Not the Jackal **

**By Fic Fairy**

Abbey and CJ were known for many things. To the public they were known as a First Lady and Press Secretary who crossed the unthinkable line and fell in love. To the LGB community they were legends. To their daughter they were the funny and caring mummies who made her life complete and to their friends they were the comedy twosome who threw the best dinner parties and made Key Lime Pie to die for.

What they weren't known for however, was having screaming rows in public. Sure, their family, their friends, they guessed it went on, because madly in love or not, they were two highly strong willed individuals with equally as strong opinions but never had any arguments or issues in their otherwise perfect relationship reared their head in public.

Until that day.

And yes, given the circumstances, it was understandable. If ever there were going to be cracks to see it would be when they were under pressure, and never had they been under the pressure they were facing at that moment. But all the same, it was such stark contrast to what they were used to, that for Donna, Josh, Charlie and Zoey it came as a real shock.

As CJ disappeared from the room, and Abbey collapsed in a heap, sobbing the kind of heartbroken tears that ripped through the heart of anyone who heard them, Josh, his face ashen, got to his feet. He glanced from the tea, spilt from the pot onto the coffee table, to his wife, looking to her for guidance, "I should get a cloth yeah?"

Donna nodded, picking up the photograph that had been the source of the argument, the one that CJ had spilt the tea onto. "Yeah, and…" she looked to Charlie, handing the photograph over, "could you see if you could rescue that?" The picture was, in truth, past saving, but Donna knew boys. All boys. Working with Josh, and then marrying him had told her everything she needed to know, and one thing she knew for sure was that boys and crying women didn't go well together, and that Charlie would be as desperate for an escape route as her husband was.

Charlie took his get out of jail free card and headed to the kitchen leaving the three women alone, with only Abbey's sobbing for company. Zoey had moved to sit beside her mother, wrapping her arms around her, but no amount of hugs seemed to slow her crying.

Zoey looked over at Donna, her own eyes twinkling with tears, "Why are they arguing? They should be pulling together. They need each other. Why would CJ go off at mom like that?"

The answer to the question had been very clear to Donna over the course of the last 90 minutes. From the moment she and Josh had arrived at the CJ and Abbey's Rock Creek home, she'd seen not only panic and stress on her friend's face as she'd expected, but guilt too. And since they'd had 'the conversation' some time ago, it didn't take Einstein to work out the reason why. It was the same reason why she'd not followed the other woman out of the room; because she knew she'd need time alone to get her head around it. Need time to lick her wounds.

"It's hard on both of them." Donna said gently, knowing that Zoey needed tender loving care almost as much as her mom did. "They're frightened. And CJ probably feels guilty too."

"What does she have to feel guilty about?" Zoey asked, perplexed by the idea, "She wasn't even with Lily when she was taken."

And that, Donna knew, was all part of the problem. The fact that her adopted daughter had been abducted two hours previously and she hadn't been there to stop it was taking its toll on CJ, but by the same token there was more to it. More than she could share.

Luckily, she was saved from having to do so by the timely arrival of one Jed Bartlet, who came haring into the room like a whirlwind, a trail of secret service agents in his wake.

"Abbey…" he'd crossed the room to his ex wife and extracted her from their daughter's arms in seconds, before quickly engulfing her in a hug, "Abbey." He said again, wanting to get her attention, although it was to no avail as she just continued leaning into him, sobbing against his chest. Realising he was getting nowhere he looked to Zoey questioningly,

"Where is she Zoey? Is there no chance she's just run away?"

At his words, the tears that had been threatening to make an appearance for so long finally came, as Zoey fears for her 'little sister' finally completely overtook her and she took broke down, leaving Donna to answer the question,

"Mr President, she's six years old. Her nanny is lying in the morgue with a bullet in her head."

"Damn it!" Jed visibly tensed at her words, "How the hell did this happen? Why did it happen?" and then, he raised the subject Donna had most been dreading, "If only she'd had security." She opened her mouth to respond but was beaten to it by Abbey, whose attention Jed had finally got without even meaning to. She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks,

"Jed, don't…"

Her words provoked a real reaction in Jed, and it seemed to Donna liked he aged as he stood in front of her, before he shook his head sadly, "Don't what Abigail? Lest we forget the last thing you asked me not to do was get your daughter a protective detail, and look how well that's worked out."

At any other time, she suspected war would have broken out between the former First Couple over less, but in that instance, it didn't. Instead Abbey stared up at her husband, and let him rant as he came up with reason after reason as to why her daughter should have had protection. It was out of fear of course, they all knew that, as unorthodox as it was, Jed loved the little Chinese girl as if she was his own, but still Donna and Zoey looked on in horror as Abbey appeared to let his words hit her head on without providing any kind of defence.

Eventually, his tirade was finally brought to a halt as a voice spoke from the other side of the room and they turned to see CJ standing there, in the doorway she'd disappeared through minutes before, her face pale and her body so rigid she was almost shaking.

"Tell him Abs." she blurted out, "Don't just stand and take that. Tell him." Aware of what was coming, Donna got up from her seat to move to her side but CJ held up her hand, "No Donna. I'm fine. We need to do this." She turned her attention back to her wife, "Tell Jed why you refused to let Lily have a detail. Tell him; tell me, so we can at least have it out in the open. So we can stop pretending you're NOT pissed at me. Please." She paused a second, as if waiting for Abbey to speak but when no words came she finished the job herself, "I'm the reason she doesn't have a detail. I refused to let her have one. So," she turned to Jed, her friend, her one time love rival and former boss, "if you want to yell, yell at me."

xxx

"Well I made an almighty great mess of that one didn't I?" It was some fifteen minutes later, and Jed was sat on the porch with Donna, Josh, Charlie and Zoey, smoking a much needed cigarette. "They're already going through hell and I come in with my hefty size 9's and don't so much put my foot in my mouth as trample all over CJ's feelings with it."

"Actually Sir," Donna said hesitantly, "I think you did what was needed."

At his side, Zoey reached out and touched her father's arm supportively, "Donna's right." She murmured, recalling the way that her mother had gone to CJ's side straight after her admission, held her as she'd began to cry and then led her out of the room and in the direction of their bedroom, "Like CJ said, it needed to be out in the open. It's obviously been an issue since we arrived, I just didn't know what the problem actually was. Donna knew though."

"Did you?" Jed looked over at the blonde woman, who nodded in response to his question,

"Yeah, CJ and I talked about it. She just wanted Lily to be able to be an ordinary little girl."

At her words Jed got to his feet and moved away slightly, looking out over the lawn where he'd spent so many hours watching the bright sparky six year old play, while her two mothers had looked on so proudly. "Lily is anything but ordinary." He said, to no one in particular, "She's charming, and she's smart," he turned to look at Zoey, "and she's better than you at math."

His daughter smiled weakly as her eyes filled with tears again, "dad, that's not really saying much."

Finding a certain comfort in pursing an old debate Jed decided to roll with it, "You know what, you could have been better at math." He took a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and removed another one from the packet, putting it into his mouth and lighting it, "You just never tried. And you should have, because you could have been an economist by now, instead of a mere theatre critic."

Before Zoey could respond, Charlie cut in, "She's a very fine theatre critic; the finest theatre critic in the whole of DC."

"You have to say that. You're married to her." It was a joke they'd had so often, and yet, it jarred given the situation and finally broke the spell and brought Jed back to reality. He reached out and wrapped his arm around his daughter, "I love you Zoey, and I'm proud of you." He glanced towards the house, "You reckon your mom's ok in there?"

Zoey shrugged, "As OK as they're gonna be I reckon." She sighed, her face etched with concern, "What's going to happen to Lily dad?"

He sat down again, taking a long drag on his cigarette, "They'll find her. The FBI will be on it by now. Abbey's detail too I'd presume. I'd hope." He looked across the table at Josh and Donna, "You still work in the White House, would be able to confirm that?"

Josh nodded, "Yeah, extra agents too. Matt's sanctioned whatever it takes." He smiled weakly, "Largely because Helen twisted his arm behind his back with the force and might that only a mother putting herself in CJ and Abbey's place could summon up."

"See, your sister is going to be absolutely fine." He said to Zoey, wanting to comfort her, in spite of the fact that even with Josh's reassurances he was feeling a long way from positive. Because of that, and wanting to move on quickly, he turned his attention quickly back to his former Deputy Chief of Staff, "It was good of you to come. I'm sure CJ and Abbey will appreciate having their friends around them."

"They'll be glad you're here too." Donna said gently, causing Jed to shake his head, angry at himself all over again,

"I messed up. I made CJ cry."

Donna smiled knowingly, "Like I said before, that was precisely what she needed to do."

xxx

As the others talked outside, Abbey and CJ lay on their bed, clinging to each other through fear and grief. The tears, on both their parts, had started to dry, although they knew they had a hell of a lot more left inside them.

Abbey reached out, gently stroking CJ's cheek, "It's not your fault Claud."

CJ shook her head, a lump fast rising in her throat, "You wanted her to have protection."

"I did." Abbey replied, honestly, truthfully, because there was little point in denying it, they both knew it was true, "But, you didn't want her to go to school today. You said she was sick. You'd have kept her home." She thought back to that morning, their daughter's pouty little face as she begged to be allowed to stay home, and the way CJ had been prepared to let her until Abbey had put her foot down and said that with no obvious symptoms and a normal temperature she was clearly just trying it on. Not that her words were of any comfort to her wife who didn't see it as an accurate or justified comparison.

"It's not the same thing." She said, her guilt written all over her face, "And you know it. That's why you got so pissed at me before; with the tea."

"No." Abbey pulled CJ closer, and reached for her hand, entwining their fingers, "The tea landed on Lily's picture and it just felt symbolic. Honey, I'm sorry I overreacted, I'm sorry I made you think I was angry. I don't blame you."

CJ pulled away from her then, sitting up and hunching over wrapping her arms around herself as she started to cry again, "It doesn't matter Abbey. I blame me. If she'd had agents around her they'd have acted the minute the gunshot rang out. Maybe even before. You know how good they are, they see things we don't." She buried her head in her hands, "Alice could still be alive. And Lily," she let out a sob that cut through Abbey like a knife, "Lily would be here. With you."

She said nothing else, she knew there was no point; nothing she said or did at that juncture was going to make it better for CJ or prove that her guilt was unjustified. Instead she just pulled her back into her arms, rubbing her shoulders and back, trying to soothe her.

When her tears reached their end for the second time, CJ looked up at her, "What we were saying before, about the argument, over the tea. I'm sorry I shouted right back at you. I'm sorry I said what I did."

Abbey thought back to the way CJ had rounded on her, let rip with a tirade about her 'always having to be the perfect parent', about her 'always having to be the one in the right'. It didn't take much of a leap to understand what she'd been thinking about when she'd said it, nor why she'd lashed out in the way that she had. She leant over and gently brushed her lips against hers, "It's ok sweetheart, I understand. But Zoey was right, we have to pull together on this."

There was a moment of silence as CJ kissed her back, a long lingering kiss, the type that they did so well and that usually made her so happy although at that second, with her daughter gone she doubted she could ever be happy again, and when they finally broke apart, she answered.

"We're pulling together now aren't we?" She said pointedly, "Because of Jed." Even though there were still tears in her eyes she managed a faint smile, "I don't know how your ex husband does it Abs but he seems to be able to resolve a situation even when he's being a complete jackass."

xxx


	2. Chapter 2

On Air Force One, thousands of miles away from the Cregg-Barrington home, Helen Santos was stood, watching her children as they played cards with Sam, and Bram, who acted as her husbands Communications Director and Personal Aide respectively. It never failed to astound her how well her children had adapted to their roles as Presidential offsprings, nor the way they treated Matt's staff like members of their extended family. Well, most of the time anyway… it hadn't escaped her notice that at thirteen Miranda had developed a habit of fluttering her eyelashes at Bram at every given opportunity and stuffing her bra with socks whenever she knew he'd be around. Matt was having kittens over it, but Helen knew there were worst things in the world…

Like what their friends were going through.

She looked over at Miranda again. For all the flirting and lipgloss - coerced out of one of the Assistants no doubt - she was still Helen's baby. The thought of having her taken from her, the thought of losing her, it was just unbearable. It made her sick just to think about it.

She was distracted from the unpleasant thoughts by Matt coming up behind her, and laying his hand on her shoulder. She looked round, glad to see him, glad of the company,

"Where were you?"

He pulled her to him, obviously sensing her low mood, wrapping his arms around her waist, "NSA briefing. There's a situation going down."

Helen smiled weakly, "I know that. I can't think of anything else. Abbey and CJ must be…" she took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions, "… they must be devastated. We'll go over yeah? When we get back to DC?" She waited for Matt to respond and when he didn't, instead just looking awkward, she looked at him questioningly, "We should be there. They were there for me." She thought back to the first few difficult months of Matt's Presidency, when he was having the time of his life doing his thing and she was sitting in the residence at The White House, resenting the plush surrounding that felt like little more than a prison to her and wishing she could just pack up, pick up and go back home. She was trying to make the best of it, for Matt's sake, but it was hard, and then one day, out of the blue, came the call that turned things around.

The three of them had had a lot of long lunches, spent afternoons sunning themselves in Abbey and CJ's extensive grounds, plus the occasional dinner where she'd had Matt in tow. They'd become her friends away from home, with a side portion of media training thrown in on CJ's part and as for Abbey…

Abbey had been amazing, because she really understood what it meant to be FLOTUS. After all, she'd been there. She knew the minus points. The pitfalls. The harsh realities, and sometimes she even reminded Matt of those things too.

She owed them a lot. They both did. And yet;

"Helen, we can't go over there." he wisely didn't give her chance to comment before he ploughed on, "One, it would just add 25 more clowns, 4 trapeze artists and an extra big top to an already crazy media circus. Two, I have a country to run." She opened her mouth to argue but again he didn't give her chance, "The NSA briefing wasn't about Lily. There's civil unrest in a number of cities in Roterura, we may have to look at evacuating the Embassy, and even if we don't, it's a serious situation. I can't afford to be distracted."

"They're our friends." She snapped, before lowering her voice again as she instantly remembered that Matt's staff and the children were nearby. "I'm worried about them."

Matt pulled her closer still, and she could tell from the look in his eyes that he understood her frustration although they both knew that there wasn't a lot they could do about it. He was the President of the United States, their hands were tied.

"Secret Service are on the case." he said gently, reassuringly, "My Chief of Staff and my Deputy Press Secretary are with them already." he glanced in Sam's direction, "My Communications Director is distracted because he's with them in spirit, and the same can probably be said for my Vice President. I can't let any more of my staff disappear over this. I need them baby. And I need you."

She nodded because there was nothing else she could do, but she couldn't help but see the irony.

When you were First Lady you had to put the needs of your country before the needs of your family, your friends, yourself.

The very same part of the job that Abbey had always professed to hating the most.

xxx

"We should get back out there." CJ said. It was a while later, and they were still curled up on the bed, their bodies entwined, each needing to feel the physical presence of the other too desperately to let go. They'd talked a little more, cried a little more, although, CJ had noticed, they'd stopped short of sharing their deepest fears; of discussing the too horrible to bear 'what if's'.

Abbey looked up at her, her eyes stained with both tears and mascara, an uncertain look on her face, "You really want to?" CJ understood why her wife thought she'd be reluctant particularly after her earlier explosion. Their friends, their family wouldn't be holding her responsible for Lily's disappearance even after her confession, and if even if they did, none of them would be as heartless as to say so, but yet going out there, being around them, it would only intensify her guilt, as she saw their worry and concern for her daughter on each and every one of their faces.

Plus, that was only half the battle. Going out there, seeing them all, would just be even more of a reminder of the huge Lily shaped hole in their lives. After all, at every gathering of their inner circle, Lily was always, always, without question the centre of attention. No mean feat for a such little girl among such large personalities.

But all that said, she did think they should return to the living room. After all, everyone had taken time out of their day to be there, to offer their support, and so far all she'd done to thank them was throw the mother of all hissy fits; she'd not even taken the time to greet Abbey's ex-husband before she'd imploded in front of him. And so, hesitantly, she nodded, "We should. Unless I go back out there alone, if you'd rather stay in here."

It was an unlikely suggestion, and CJ wasn't surprised when Abbey shook her head and said she'd go too; she knew from experience that the last thing Abbey ever wanted was to be separated from her. Although, at heart, she was an independent women the enforced separations that she'd experienced from her husband during her years as a Presidential spouse had left their mark undeniably, to the extent where at times - particularly the more difficult days in their lives - she would cling to see CJ in a limpet like way that at could be as stifling as it was romantic and endearing. Not that CJ would have had it any other way. She knew that a whole load of cold lonely nights, not the mention their own estrangement after their affair had been made public, had taken their toll on Abbey and wanted to do whatever she could to make it better.

She got up from the bed, and held her hand out to help Abbey do likewise and then they headed back into their lounge room where she was surprised to find the room empty. Abbey was quicker off the mark however, and quickly guided her out of the French doors and on to the porch.

"Jed Bartlet. As the homeowner, I ought to congratulate you for making it as far as the porch." Abbey admonished, "But as a Medical Doctor. I think not," she glared at his cigarette, "put it out."

Other spouses might have been perturbed by the exchange between their wife and her ex, but not CJ. She and Abbey shared a relationship with Jed that covered almost - the bonds were kept out of the bedroom of course - every aspect of their former relationships with him. At times Abbey was still the nagging but caring wife and Jed the frustrated husband, just as he was her teasing boss and she was his professional advisor. And far from disturbing her, it actually amused her, and on a day other than this particular one, Abbey's rant about the smoking would definitely have resulted in a knowing playful exchange of smiles between her and Jed.

'Thank God she's your problem now.' smiles.

That said, it wasn't the day for it. Jed knew that too, putting his cigarette and moving over to the couple, addressing CJ specifically, "If only smoking on your patio was the worst thing I'd done today. CJ," he held his arms out, opening them towards her, "I am so sorry."

She moved into his arms, as she had done so many times and hugged him, held him. "Its fine. I needed someone to ask the question." she looked down at him, and felt herself tear up all over again, "It was eating me up inside."

He smiled, that same fatherly smile she'd been on the receiving end of often during her time in his administration, a smile that at one point she thought she'd never see again but yet which now felt completely natural all over again. He reached down, squeezed her hand, "We've all made decisions we've later had cause to question. No one more than me. I understand, you know that."

And she did. In fact at the moment she suspected that Jed understood her with more clarity and knowledge than anyone else.

xxx

They moved back inside after that, settled themselves back into the lounge room, and sat, just the 'family' as Josh and Donna excused themselves to the kitchen to make more tea, to replace the pot that had been spilt earlier.

To begin with, no one said anything, as Abbey sat staring at the grandfather clock in one corner of the room, watching the hands go round, flanked by CJ on one side and Jed on the other, as Zoey, curled up in Charlie's arm, watched her mother with concern, worried about her, and disconcerted by the endless silence. Eventually, by way of ending it she offered up the only thing she could think of to say.

"Leo called. He wants to fly in."

"He shouldn't." the response came from CJ, and Zoey was surprised by it; she'd assumed CJ would have wanted Leo there. If there was one thing that they'd all come to know over the years, it was that Leo was calm in a crisis and therefore the perfect person to have around in one. Her surprised was only compounded when CJ turned to her dad,

"I'm right yeah?"

He nodded, "You're right." he looked at Zoey, obviously sensing her surprise and wanting to provide her with an explanation, "We've already got reporters ten deep at the fence out there. Add a Vice President to the mix, we could triple that. That's not what your mom needs. Its not what CJ needs." he turned his attention back to CJ, "You know you won't see Helen for that reason too. Its not because she doesn't want to come. I'm sure she does."

CJ smiled, nodding "I know. She's on Air Force One, she sent Abbey a text."

At her side, Charlie chuckled, "Air Force One. Those were the days. I miss the M&Ms with…"

"… the Presidential Seal?" Zoey finished his sentence for him, but the words were barely out of her mouth before she realised her mom was crying. She moved from Charlie's arms and sat on the floor beside her, "Mom?"

Her mom looked up at her, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Lily loves those M&Ms. Helen gave her a box last time we saw her. She took them to school. Handed them out to all her classmates." As CJ pulled her into her arms, her tears turning to sobs, Zoey scooted back to Charlie, knowing he'd be feeling bad about mentioning the M&Ms in the first place. She sat back beside him and reached for his hand, "Its OK."

But things weren't OK. Not by a long shot. And until her little sister came back, there was no way they were going to be.

xxx

"Are you going to tell them?"

Josh watched as Donna froze, mid task, and then slowly turned to look at him questioningly, "Tell them what?"

"You know." he said, then lowered his voice slightly, "About the thing."

Donna removed the carton of milk she'd been getting from the fridge then slammed the door furiously, and she moved closer to him, the look he'd come to recognise as disapproval written across her face, "Please tell me you're not referring to THE thing."

He smiled, although he suspected that was the wrong thing to do, given her apparent mood, "Yeah. I'm referring to THE thing. What else would I mean?"

Donna scowled, "I would hope oh husband of mine that you'd be referring to anything but THE thing given the current set of circumstances." she banged the milk carton down on the counter and grabbed the kettle, pouring the now boiled water into the pot, "Why would you think we would tell them Josh?"

He was getting to used to Donna's mood swings, had even been allowed to joke about them on occasion but he suspected that now wasn't the moment for such a thing and so instead he found himself just lamely trying to explain himself, "Well, you know, it's a happy thing, and well, they might notice. You look different. Things changed."

The scowl was replaced by despair as his wife abandoned the tea making to concentrate on admonishing him.

"Josh, I know you spent a lot of your life fantasising about Abbey and CJ lusting after me, but trust me when I say that no matter what goes on in your sick little head, they won't be looking at my breasts that closely right now."

"So, we're not telling them that you're pregnant?" he asked, although he suspected he already knew the answer.

Donna shook her head. Needlessly he thought. But then he thought of something else that might be noticed, something more noticeable than the breasts. "What about when you start doing your impression of Linda Blair in The Exorcist in," he glanced at his watch, "5 hours."

She didn't argue to with that, knowing as he did that her early evening 'morning' sickness, which occurred habitually with precision timing, would be something of a giveaway, instead, her anger apparently fading she looked at him, with tears in her eyes, fury replaced with sadness, "I'll have to hide it. I can't face them knowing Josh. I already feel guilty enough that," she reached down to touch her stomach, in the place where some day soon her baby bump would be, "our child is here with us while theirs is god knows where." She leaned into him, and he held her, as the tears started to flow.

In that moment, he realised just how ridiculous his question had been.


End file.
